


when you are close to me (i shiver)

by Talls



Category: All For The Game - Nora Sakavic
Genre: Dan has to put up with a lot as team captain, Multi, Oblivious Neil Josten, POV Outsider, Pining Neil Josten, and Matt has to put up with it by extension, he's in love but he thinks he's sick cause he doesn't know what a crush feels like, that's the fic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-14
Updated: 2019-06-14
Packaged: 2020-05-07 18:54:59
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,040
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19215481
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Talls/pseuds/Talls
Summary: Neil knows he's definitely feeling something. Unfortunately for him, he has no idea what the feeling is.Unfortunately for Dan, she won't get to make out with her hot boyfriend until Neil figures it out.Matt's just here for the ride.





	when you are close to me (i shiver)

Dan is going to murder Neil Josten. It’s not her fault. Nobody would blame her. Every court in the world would acquit her. Someone would probably give her a trophy or something, with how many enemies he generates with his small snarky body. 

Neil knocks on the door again. “Dan, can I come in? I really need to talk,” Neil says. He knocks three more times in quick succession. She closes her eyes tightly, as if that could somehow prevent Neil Josten from existing right now. 

“You know, if you killed him right now, I wouldn’t tell anybody,” Matt whispers from under her, and she smiles at him ruefully before shaking her head. They weren’t far enough along in the evening to be too indecent, thankfully. She grabs her shirt off of the floor and pulls it on. 

“We can’t kill him, he’s the only striker who can tolerate Kevin,” Dan says, tugging on some Nike shorts. She looks up at Matt and makes a vague motion for him to become decent. She watches patiently as he raises one of his eyebrows - fuck she wish she could do that - and flicks the bed sheet over his crotch. Dan laughs. 

“Dan, please, I have a problem and you’re one of the only people in the world I can talk to about this. The other one won’t answer his phone,” Neil says, his words muffled by the door between them. He knocks one more time. “I heard you laughing in there, so you can’t pretend like you're not home like you did last time,” Neil says again. Matt is the one who laughs too hard at that. Dan rolls her eyes. 

She pulls open the door and glares at the offender. “What do you want?” 

“Hi, I’m sorry, but I really needed your help and I know it’s late but-” he cuts himself off in the middle of his sentence as he notices Matt in the distance. Dan turns to see Matt beam and wave. “Oh, thank god Matt’s here too, he’s the other guy I was calling,” Neil says, walking past Dan into the room and sitting down on the side of the bed. 

Dan stares out of the door for a second too long, before turning and meeting Matt’s eyes. His are smiling, as flexible and happy-go-lucky as he always is, and Dan’s irritation melts. He’s always had a way of making her feel like they’re in on the same joke, and she feels that now, at Neil’s utter social inability. She walks towards them and plops herself down on the bed, making herself comfortable on Matt and the pillows. 

“What’s the problem that only we can help you with?” Dan asks, and Neil looks down at his hands for a long second before biting his lip. 

“I think I might be dying,” Neil intones, voice deathly serious. Dan feels Matt tense next to her, and she knows she reacted the exact same way. If Neil “I’m Fine” Josten thinks he’s dying, things must be dire. Before either of them can respond, Neil continues with, “or I’m a serial killer. Maybe both. One of the two for sure. My money is on me dying though, because honestly I’m surprised I’ve made it this far.” 

“I mean, I’m also surprised you’ve made it this far, but why do you think you’re dying?” Dan asks. 

“Or a serial killer, I think it’s important, we don’t forget the serial killer part,” Matt jumps in quickly, and Dan points at him to second that motion. 

“I googled all of my symptoms, and either I have cancer, or acute liver failure. I don’t drink, so it has to be the cancer,” Neil reasons. Matt and Dan relax simultaneously. “I think I might be a serial killer, because all of the symptoms happen around a certain person.” 

“Okay, first of all, you don’t have cancer, the internet is never right about cancer,” Dan says. “Second of all, what symptoms are you talking about? You’ve been healthy at practice.” 

Neil furrows his brow like he’s concentrating, and then starts to speak. “I get these attacks where I feel really flushed, and my chest hurts and it gets really hard to breathe.” 

“It’s not asthma, it can’t be, you’re a Division One athlete, we would have seen one of these attacks on court,” Matt says. 

“I don’t have them on court, just in a few of my classes and in my free time,” Neil says. “And it’s not just that. My stomach will hurt, or I won’t be able to focus, or I lose track of time.” His voice is getting legitimately worried now, and Dan doesn’t know how to comfort him. 

“When was the last one?” Dan asks. 

“Just now in bed,” Neil says. 

“What were you doing?” Matt asks. Dan wrinkles her nose. “Not like that.”

“I was texting the guy,” Neil says. “He’s around when the other attacks happen too, but he doesn’t really notice them.” 

“How does he not notice them?” Dan asks. “Aren’t you like, dying?” 

“It’s not like I act like I’m dying. It doesn’t feel bad or anything, just really uncomfortable.” Dan begins to have a sneaking suspicion. 

“Uncomfortable how?” She asks, and there’s a new quality to her voice that has Matt turning and furrowing his brows at her. 

“Like, I feel like squirming whenever he looks at me, and I stop noticing my surroundings, and I know sometimes it’s natural for people to be inattentive in public, but I’m not one of those people,” Neil says. 

“Do you feel unsafe?” Matt asks. 

“No, of course not, he’d let me know if there was a threat, or more likely, he’d take care of it himself. I’m safe with him,” Neil says, dismissing even the possibility that this guy himself was a threat. Dan turns to look at Matt, who seems to be restraining a knowing smile. 

“Tell me more about this guy then,” Dan says.

“He’s a criminal law major who hates jocks, but his general fitness is leagues beyond most people on this team, even though all he seems to eat are hot pockets and ice cream. One time I saw him deadlifting my weight at the gym, which was when I had my first attack,” Neil says. 

“Describe the symptoms of the first attack,” Matt asks, schooling his face into bland inquiry. 

“Um, I got really flushed? And it was difficult to breathe, and I was talking to someone, but I don’t remember anything else, except that I walked face-first into a wall because I lost track of my surroundings,” Neil says. Dan bites the inside of her cheek as hard as she can. 

“You actually walked into a wall? I thought that only happened in movies?” Matt says. Neil narrows his eyes at Matt in an instant. 

“You know something. You know what this is and you’re not telling me. Why wouldn’t you tell me? Is it cancer? I knew this life was too good to be true, of course I have cancer,” Neil says, spiraling. His voice gets high and he sounds like he’s hyperventilating. Matt drops the joking demeanor instantly. 

“No, Neil, you definitely don’t have cancer,” Matt says, and Neil drops his hyperventilating act immediately, narrowing his eyes at Matt again. 

“Okay, then what do I have?” he asks, his voice perfectly even. Dan widens her eyes in appreciation. That was a scam even Allison would have fallen for. 

“A crush, you manipulative child,” Matt says, and Dan finally lets her smile break onto her face. “You like this guy and you want to make out with his face, and you’re freaking out about it.” 

“No I don’t. I don’t swing. I’ve never wanted to kiss anyone,” Neil denies, almost immediately. 

“Then why do you want to kiss this guy?” Matt challenges. 

“I don’t!” Neil says, before leaning back and tilting his head to the side like he’s actually considering it for the first time. Dan watches his expression go from skeptical to deeply flushed with an air of satisfaction. “Oh god, I do, I really do,” he finally breathes. “Oh god I wish I had cancer, everything was so much easier when I just had cancer.” 

“You never had cancer,” Dan says, because he never had any damn cancer. 

“At least when I had cancer there was nothing I could do about it. Now all I’m gonna think about is trying to kiss this guy, goddammit,” Neil continues. 

“In what universe is wanting to kiss a guy worse than cancer?” Matt muses. 

“Have you met most men?” Dan asks, philosophically. Matt nods in concession to her excellent point. “Neil, what are you going to do about this?” 

“I’m thinking ask him point blank if he wants to kiss me and move from there,” Neil says, and wow, does he really think that’s gonna work? 

“Do you really think that’s gonna work?” Matt asks, just as skeptical as Dan’s internal monologue. Neil doesn’t respond, too busy pulling out his phone and typing something. “Neil?” 

“Just asked him, gonna wait for a response now,” Neil says, and Dan actually rears back, because he just texted him? 

“You just texted him and asked?” Dan asks. “That’s not how this works, that’s not how any of this-” 

“He texted back, he wants to kiss me too,” Neil interrupts, voice dreamy and completely unconcerned with Dan’s words. “Hey, he wants to kiss me right now!” Neil looks up and beams, and Dan’s words of caution die in her mouth. She hasn’t actually seen Neil smile like this ever before. 

“Who is this guy?” Matt asks, obviously just as confused and shocked at the expression on Neil’s face as Dan is. 

“Andrew Minyard,” Neil responds absentmindedly, texting furiously. “I gotta go, thank you so much for letting me cockblock you, this has been really helpful,” Neil says, before getting off the bed and moving to the door. 

“Wait, so you’re just leaving? To go kiss the guy you’ve been pining after? After you texted him in the middle of the night with the world’s least smooth question?” Matt asks, and honestly Dan would be asking those questions, but she’s too hung up on another thing. 

“Wait, you knew you were cockblocking us and you still bothered us anyways?” Dan asks, and Neil smirks from where he’s standing in the doorway. 

“Have a nice night lovebirds, I’m going to go kiss a boy,” Neil says, unrepentant. 

“Wait, did you just say Andrew Minyard, the guy who went to juvie? The one who almost played for our team before he stabbed Kevin? The guy literally nobody talks to except for Renee, because she’s also just as insane as he is?” Matt asks. Another wide grin splits Neil’s face open. He winks once, and then takes off on a light jog down the hall, clearly excited to go make out with the campus sociopath. 

They sit in silence for about a minute, grappling with what just happened. 

“Should. Should we try and stop that?” Matt asks. 

“I don’t think we could at this point,” Dan responds, because honestly, Minyard is for real insane. Like, for real. 

“Hm.” Matt keeps looking at the door. “Did we know that Neil was that much of an asshole prior to just now?” 

“I think we always knew, but we never really wanted to believe,” Dan says, and he nods because it really does make sense. Neil’s still a Fox, for all that he’s tiny and cute looking. 

“Should we get back to business now that he’s no longer deliberately cockblocking us?” Matt asks, and yes, that’s something Dan can get on board with. 

“Absolutely. After all, I don’t see why Neil should be the only one who gets to kiss a boy tonight,” Dan says, leaning forward. Matt meets her in the middle. 

He always does. 

*

Dan pulls away for a second. “Wait, but we’re definitely gonna get him back at some point when he’s hooking up with Minyard, right?” 

“Already working on my plans for that. I’m thinking fire sprinklers and maybe those flash pellets you throw on the ground that make the noises,” Matt says, and yes okay, that’s what she likes about him.

**Author's Note:**

> as always, I'd love to hear your opinions on the story! your feedback means the world to me!
> 
> I know I haven't updated the time travelers fic in a minute, but I've been working on my big bang and some shorter pieces. Rest assured, I haven't given up on her yet. 
> 
> thank you again for reading!


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